The Scrollrunners

Chapter 11 | Caught

When the three friends climbed through the hole in the wall into the secret classroom after their early morning meeting at the Serapeum, they were expecting the usual chaos that ensued within their makeshift school for misfits. They weren't expecting the chaos to have unfolded to the extent it had while the sun was only just pulling itself above the horizon.

Papyrus flying everywhere, students running to and fro over the tiled floor— it looked like a sandstorm had whipped through the entire classroom. The culprit: a stray dog that little Hexa (of course) had thought to bring to school that day.

Arben cowered, overwhelmed, in the secret entrance; Letes brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, and Talibah grinned and joined in on the chase to catch the small canine before it, and everyone bumbling about chasing it, destroyed all their treasured works.

The dog was a puppy, and because of that it had boundless energy. Pretty soon, all the students were huffing and puffing, unable to calm it down. It zipped around the classroom, barking in delight... that is, until Athena made quick work of it.

The jungle cat was afraid of nothing, and her presence demanded respect. She stood on four poised paws in the little dog's path and it halted almost immediately, its young paws slipping a bit on the blue tiles. Talibah swooped in quickly to pick the precious thing up and demanded jokingly, "Who let this little rascal in the classroom?"

Many fingers pointed at a defiant Hexa whose arms were outstretched to take the dog from Talibah. Talibah obliged and Hexa took the cute, yapping bundle from Talibah and sheepishly scavenged for a rope with which to tie the dog on a leash outside the classroom— at least until they could guarantee he wouldn't wreck all their hard work, Letes reassured the classroom's youngest member.

By the time the little girl crawled back through the entrance, the rest of the class had gathered into a circle on the floor, and Hexa's big sister Gaia patted the empty space next to her.

Talibah stood in the center of the circle with Letes beside her. They were both laughing; Talibah, brightly, Letes, a bit strained.

"I sure missed this mayhem," said Talibah. "By the looks of it, despite the mayhem, you all have been getting lots done." The young teacher nodded in approval at the newly hanging art, writings, and equations on the wall. Letes picked up a few of the papyrus scrolls that had been collateral damage in the wake of the mighty puppy and was equally impressed.

"Now," continued Talibah, rubbing her hands together, "time to make even more mayhem."

And so she and Letes, with Arben pitching in, to everyone's surprise, they revealed the big plan that would unfold on the day of Alexandria's biggest festival.

"Wait, wait, wait.. we're staging this during the Founding Festival?" Asked the ever-skeptical Ketra.

"Isn't it perfect?!" Talibah asked excitedly, either not noticing or pretending not to notice Ketra's sass.

"If you think about it, that will be the perfect time to round people up and make our stand. The city will be so crowded with all the events happening that they won't be able to stop us." Patiently explained Letes.

Talibah nodded vigorously at her best friend then turned back to everyone else, "So, tell all your trusted friends about the plan. We can even expand the classroom until then, invite more students, since we have our own personal papyrus supplier now." She said with a smirk and raised eyebrows, awaiting a response from the other students.

"We're gonna get brand new papyrus?! No more drawing and writing on scraps!" Exclaimed Lin.

"Yep!" Talibah answered brightly. "But remember, only those you trust. We don't want word getting back to the Library."